Cell-Cell Interactions in Mammalian Preimplantation Development

Abstract

Cells in tissues or in culture interact in a variety of ways. Communication between cells can occur by gap junctions, which ionically couple them, by receptor-ligand interactions, by direct inductive influences, or by indirect metabolic influences on the cellular microenvironment. Adhesion to other cells and to extracellular matrix components will influence both cell shape and cell function (i.e., the differentiated state of that cell) as well as help determine the cell’s degree of motility. Nearly all these interactions are mediated, at least initially, by the cell surface.

Ducibella, T., and Anderson, E., 1979, The effects of calcium deficiency on the formation of the zonula occludens and blastocoel in the mouse embryo, Dev. Biol.73 (1): 46–58.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar

Sengupta, J., Paria, B.C., and Manchanda, S. K., 1983, Effect of an estrogen antagonist on development of blastocysts and implantation in the hamster, J. Exp. Zool.225: 119–122.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar

Sobel, J. S., and Alliegro, M. A., 1985, Changes in the distribution of a spectrin-like protein during development of the preimplantation mouse embryo, J. Cell Biol.100: 333–336.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar

Szollosi, D., 1967, Development of cortical granules and the cortical reaction in rat and hamster eggs, Anat. Rec.159: 431–446.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar

Szollosi, D., 1971, Nucleoli and ribonucleoprotein particles in the preimplantation conceptus of the rat and mouse, in: The Biology of the Blastocyst (R. Blandau, ed.), pp. 95–113, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar